On-Wall Speaker Reviews

Now that the weather is warm, everyone’s urge to go outside is irresistible. For you, it’s easy: Just walk out the door. For speaker manufacturers, it’s a lot harder — and not because they’re all pale geeks who never leave the lab. It’s because the outdoors is a hostile environment for anything that uses electricity. Water can corrode metal parts, or even short out circuits.

Santa squeezed an awful lot of flat-panel TVs down an awful lot of chimneys last year. (He bends the space-time continuum, that's how.) And as those lucky households recover from holiday bills, thoughts are turning to sleek on-wall speaker systems to finish the job.

To fully appreciate and enjoy a flat-panel television, you must team it with a speaker system of matching elegance and quality. Floorstanding speakers seem like old technology. In-wall speakers are an option to consider, but they involve more work to install and have fewer placement options. A better solution in many cases is on-wall speakers, such as the new Tribe III speakers from Totem Acoustic. They're easy to install and are designed to match the finish of many flat-panel displays. Indeed, the Tribe IIIs' black or gray finish gives them the appearance that they came with the television.